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Moonrise c06s02
Text Celestia stood silently in her quarters, looking quietly into her mirror: the surface of the glass was rippling like water as it showed her the events in question, her reflection faint and weak as she shook her head slowly before murmuring: "Yes. As I suspected." The tall, ivory equine closed her eyes, and with a simple flick of her hoof, the mirror returned to normal, now only reflected her sorrowful but cold features in crystalline clarity before she turned away. Her rainbow mane and tail flowed out behind her as she strode towards the large, round purple cushion she often used as bedding, sitting quietly down on it and lowering her head in thought for a few moments before she murmured: "As I suspected. 'Sisters' of Nightmare Moon… shadows from the past. But the powers of darkness are growing… I did not expect to see The Stampede. Ghosts and goblins and demons are all the stuff of legend now… I wished to keep it that way, so these ponies would never again have to experience the sad truth that as long as good walks this world, so will evil…" She stopped, then looked over her shoulder towards the mirror with a grimace, an ill feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had more than suspected that their home had attracted terrible specters, drawn by not only the removal of the Elements of Harmony but the defeat of Nightmare Moon. Twilight Sparkle, for all her magic training, had not noticed it… but to Celestia, it had been as clear as if the walls had been painted with blood; Nightmare Moon's hellish essence had been splattered throughout the castle with the violence of her defeat, and not a thousand cleansing spells or holy blessings would be enough to wash it away. Likewise, Celestia knew that going herself, she could have risked falling under the sway of the Nightmares' wrath. As terrified as they would have been of her, they would have been maddened with rage by the presence of the Princess of the Sun inside their night-worshipping home… and it was fear and hatred that often drove such creatures to commit their worst acts. So instead, like a hornet's nest, she had simply avoided the castle, leaving them alone so they would leave her alone… until finally, Luna had grown strong enough to do this task for her. Luna… and Scrivener Blooms, who was perhaps a more important part of the puzzle than Celestia had realized. The Nightmares had dragged both of them down into darkness, in order to try and feast on their negative emotions, in order to attempt to awaken Nightmare Moon and corrupt the earth pony: a less-desirable subject for their machinations, but made a slave to the essence of the Nightmares, he would still be able to spread malice and discord throughout Equestria. At the same time, however, the Nightmares would be at their most vulnerable: it would be a test of will against will, mettle against mettle. They would try and bend and break the ponies but they could also be tampered with themselves… and Celestia had truly found it difficult to avoid telling Luna what had to be done. Going in with that knowledge, the Nightmares may have read their thoughts and intentions, and instead of attempting to corrupt and possess they may have tried to work in other nefarious measures that would have made them harder to defeat… and given them a chance to get away. And Celestia wanted these blots of darkness, these creatures of the night, wiped off the face of the planet. She knew it was a risky gambit: if things did not go according to plan, if Luna gave in again… she would become Nightmare Moon once more, and Scrivener would be a puppeted vessel of darkness. And Celestia would not have the luxury of being able to place Twilight Sparkle and her friends into battle once more with her corrupted sister, now that Nightmare Moon would know what the seemingly-harmless ponies were capable of: she would simply kill them instead of trying to distract them. If things went wrong, Nightmare Moon might even access the vaults with Luna's knowledge, bringing ancient weapons against her… but Celestia had other tricks of her own, other artifacts sealed away. And she would not allow Nightmare Moon to threaten her nation, her home, again: if Luna did fail, it would only go to show that no matter how much she loved her sister, she was weak, and she would give in again and again to temptation and hatred. And much as Celestia cared for her… she would destroy her. She would burn Nightmare Moon to ashes with fire and light and ancient magic, and she would bring the full wrath of the sun down upon the heads of the forces of darkness that had corrupted her beloved little sister into an incurable monstrosity. Celestia shook her head, looking down silently as she rested on the cushion, murmuring: "It is all for my subjects, sister. I test you, for the sake of our nation, our home. We must protect them, and ensure they are always safe… even if that means we are to be placed at odds. I hope that you succeed, I do… but no matter what happens, I must protect Equestria and put the needs of our ponies above the needs of its rulers. I truly believe you can do this, though… that you will be the one to open the vaults, and bring me these final necessary items… there are worse things than the Nightmares out there, dear sister. I wish I could tell you, but it's so close, and I cannot risk letting it know I've felt its shadow, I've seen its half-covered face. It is not a beast like Fenrir was, it is not cunning and cruel like the Wyrms, it is not powerful and yet ultimately flawed like Discord was. It is ruthless, and soulless, and worst of all ordered and emotionless and focused on its goal. It must be stopped… it must not be allowed to steal our homes, our country, everything we've worked for, away from us and our people…" The ivory equine shook her head, closing her amethyst eyes as sorrow twisted over her face as she half-turned away, digging her hooves against the cushion… and then she slowly forced herself to relax, closing her eyes before she lowered her head and murmured: "For all our sakes', sister, I hope you succeed and prove that you are the pure, beautiful Luna I once knew and loved. I don't think I can do this without you… but I know I can't do this if I have to worry that lurking just below the surface is Nightmare Moon, waiting for the right moment to strike. I wish you good luck, little sister… and I hope you know that I'm praying for your success, that I'm praying my trust in you doesn't go misplaced, that you will return to me, whole and pure, the silent white night. And if not… I promise it will be quick, Luna, so you don't suffer inside Nightmare Moon's shell." She shook her head slowly, then closed her eyes and shuddered as she let herself quietly sink down over the cushions, breathing softly as her rainbow mane uneasily twisted back and forth around her. Her tail flicked quietly as she rested, her legs folded quietly beneath her form, her large ivory frame shuddering once with repressed fears and sorrow and other wild feelings as she strove to find some inner peace despite the turmoil raging through her body and soul. And yet in her mind, the thoughts of the future, the strange premonitions that had begun haunting her waking and sleeping hours ever since Discord arose from his stone imprisonment, whispered their way upwards, poisoning her thoughts, etching themselves onto her very soul. Visions of malice, hatred, pain, and punishment, of the eternal clash of darkness and light as they swirled together in a violent maelstrom, and of glowing golden eyes that seemed to glare into her through time and space, eyes she somehow knew came from the future, eyes that had no soul, no compassion, nothing but callous lordship. Every day, those eyes became brighter and colder, more and more terrible… and Celestia knew in her heart of hearts that in an all-too-soon future, she would be faced with whatever those eyes belonged to, she would gaze into them in reality instead of her broken and terrified half-dreams… and she only hoped she would have the strength to stand on her own hooves against whatever ruthless, heartless force those terrible golden irises belonged to. Top ↑ Category:Transcript Category:Story